An act of kindness adds light to the room...

This entry is an epilog to my previous blog posts about our recent trip to Ireland, and the inspiration received at the Lindsey Stirling concert we attended in August.  

We returned home after a wonderful vacation in Ireland. The story begins upon our arrival back in the U.S.

First things first.  I'm sorry for delving into the technical details of international travel and customs, but it's necessary context to understand the story.

Dublin is one of the few locations abroad where you clear U.S. customs at your departure airport vs. when you arrive in the U.S.  It's an interesting concept.  You exit Ireland and enter the U.S. in the Dublin airport.  There's a separate area of the Dublin airport that's technically U.S. soil.  Wild!

Next thing to explain.  Typically, all checked baggage on international flights is routed through U.S. customs when you enter the U.S. from abroad.  Even if you are connecting to another U.S. airport, the bags go through customs. You collect them at your first U.S. port of entry and recheck them to your final destination. The caveat is the few occasions when you have already cleared U.S. customs at your departure airport, like we did in Dublin.  Take note as this foreshadows the remainder of the story.

Our flight was pleasant and uneventful. We even landed a few minutes early which was appreciated after 7 hours.  We deplaned and made our way to domestic baggage claim.  Remember, we technically entered the U.S. in Dublin so this was a domestic flight. This is where the drama begins.

The Philadelphia airport does not have the best reputation for it's baggage operation.  But, my personal experience is that it has improved dramatically from a few years ago. But, I began to wonder what was going on after 45 minutes of nothing.

The baggage service cubicle was positioned at the end of baggage carousel so I positioned myself close-by.  Thankfully I did so as it enabled me to gather information that was not being shared generally.  This is my biggest pet peeve with the the airline industry.  They are horrible at keeping you informed.  All of what I describe from this point in the story forward is a result of me being travel savvy enough to be in the right location.  Not once did American Airlines announce any of this. 

It took a while to figure out, but I finally pieced together that all of our plane's baggage had been routed through customs as that is the norm for most international flights. Unfortunately, our flight should have been treated as a domestic flight. Those of us that terminated in Philly could not get to our bags as we were in the domestic baggage claim area outside of airport security.  Our luggage was "lost" in the international section of the airport with nobody to claim it.

Word had spread by now and several passengers were aggregated around the service desk.  As you can imagine, the mood was not positive.  I got caught up in the negative. "How stupid are these people?"

Then I caught the eye of one of the two staff members manning the baggage service desk. I saw a young man hunkered down behind his computer terminal, looking defeated, just trying to do his job without making eye contact with the irate person in front of him.

I was consumed with negative thoughts until I saw his pained facial expression. It instantly triggered the memory of Lindsey's "You can't remove the darkness from a room, but you can add light" discussion at the concert.

I realized he was taking information to have your baggage delivered vs. waiting for it at the airport. Having our bags delivered sounded like a great idea to Carol and I.  We didn't need anything in the bags and we knew they were in Philly so they would be delivered within a day.  

I took note of the questions being asking to the folks in line in front of us. I asked Carol for a pen and I wrote down answers to the questions.  When it was our turn, I presented him with a piece of paper with answers to his standard questions.  I said "I hope this makes it a little easier for you".  His posture changed immediately.  He looked up for the first time and thanked me for being prepared.  I apologized for the general attitude of our fellow passengers and told him I understood that he didn't create the problem but was left to deal with it.  He replied "It's OK, I'm used to it." I told him I was sorry he was used to being treated poorly for a situation he did not create. 

We chatted pleasantly as he completed the tedious process of filling out a claim/delivery form, and when finished, he cheerfully wished us a good rest of our day.  I did the same to him and we parted company.

I know these few minutes made a difference in his day, and it completely changed my attitude of the situation.  The dark had been replaced with light.  As frustrated and angry as I had been, I will never remember this as a negative experience!

The Aesop quote above says "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." I might change that slightly to "No act of kindness, no matter how small, goes unrewarded."